Frank White's romanticized view of his career and baseball history is dangerous for today's catchers.
Second base is a tough position. The men who play it often have their backs to the runners barreling in on them, ready to break up an impending double play, and can get wrecked by a well-executed takeout slide. One of the best at hanging in on those slides was Frank White, undeniably one of the top fielding second basemen that baseball has ever seen. This photo is one of my favorites, with White looking like a ballerina, balanced on a leg to avoid the incoming runner and to ensure that he still got off a strong and accurate throw. There is a lot to admire about Frank White.
Finally, with the Royals returning to prominence, White is receiving some of his due outside of his home town of Kansas City, with recent articles by Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan highlighting his ongoing feud with Royals management and raising his visibility. He's talking quite a bit this week, including to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, and... well, it's safe to say he isn't as graceful speaking as he is turning a pirouette:
Frank White says the game is not aggressive as it used to be. Also says catchers used to get creamed and no one ever complained.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) October 22, 2014
White: "To me, if you don't want to get creamed, don't block the plate. You've just got to be smart. You don't have to change the rule."
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) October 22, 2014
Literally since before baseball was a professional sport, former players have romanticized how the game was played "back in my day," implying that players were tougher and that their motives were purer than the generations that followed. I understand that, and I don't mean to single White out for enjoying a little nostalgia. It just so happens, however, that in this case his nostalgia is dangerous.
It certainly is true that stolen bases are down compared to where they were when Frank White, Willie Wilson, George Brett, and Hal McRae ruled the American League, presumably along with some extra aggression on the bases. I can understand missing that aspect of the game that can make it increasingly dynamic and fun to watch, but we will likely see some of that ramp up if scoring around the game remains low. Offense goes in cycles, and someday we'll loop back around to the game of White's day when it's convenient for teams to do so. It's the other part of his statement that's the problem.
First, it's not true. It hasn't been true since the moment Frank White entered the majors. In 1973, White's rookie season, Carlton Fisk took issue with Thurman Munson after the Yankee great bowled Fisk over trying to score on a missed squeeze bunt. In the ensuing brawl, Fisk "had his left arm across [Gene Michael's] thoat and wouldn't let up... I had to crawl underneat the pile to try to pry Fisk's arm off his throat to keep him from killing [Michael]. All the while, he had Michael pinned, he was punching Munson underneath the pile. I had no idea Fisk was that strong, but he was scary," according to Yankees manager Ralph Houk. In 1976, Lou Piniella tried to test Fisk again, inciting a 10 minute donnybrook that left Bill Lee with an injured throwing arm. So no, catchers have long had problems with runners barreling into them.
More importantly, catchers and runners didn't complain as loudly back in White's day because we didn't know nearly as much about the dangers associated with running into the catcher. I'm not just talking about damaged limbs, like Buster Posey suffered in 2011, but the severe trauma caused by concussions. As I discovered the other week, catchers are incredibly vulnerable to severe head injuries, far more than any other players, so the rule change designed to make them less vulnerable to that kind of injury is exceptionally important, both for the long term quality of the sport and the quality of health of the men who play it.
Plus, regardless of what White might think, the ways in which the sport has changed since he retired in 1990 make these catchers much more vulnerable to brain injuries due to baserunners (and baserunners more vulnerable to brain injuries due to catchers). In 1973, when White debuted, the heaviest position player was Frank Howard at 255 lbs. Of the 402 position players who played in at least 20 games that year, 51 were listed at 200 lbs. or greater and catchers (with more than 10 games played) averaged 192 lbs. In his entire career, from 1973-1990, just 169 total position players appeared in at least 200 games and weighed at least 200 lbs.
Conversely, in 2014 the heaviest listed position player with at least 20 games to his credit was Adam Dunn at 285 lbs. And of the 441 players who played in at least 20 games, 299 of them were listed at 200 lbs or more. The average catcher who appeared in 10 games or more was 217 lbs. There simply is no getting around the fact that players are bigger and stronger today than they were when White played, and while their aggressiveness is down, their speed is similar if not greater. This means that collisions are more violent, and potentially more devastating than at any other time since catchers started wearing protective headgear.
There was ample reason for the rule change to keep catchers safer, and to reduce the danger both for them and for runners. It doesn't eliminate head injuries for baseball's backstops, of course -- perhaps nothing ever will. It does eliminate one of the chief ways they get continually beat up, however, and acknowledges that while things may have been "better" back in White's day, they are fundamentally different now. Asserting otherwise is wrong and minimizes the risks that catchers have faced historically and still could face in the future, and worse, it could influence others to think the same thing.
(Thanks to Baseball Reference's invaluable Play Index for the information on player listed weights from 1973-1990 and 2014.)